The 9 Most Popular Types of Freelancers

A freelancer is a self-employed person who offers his or her services to clients, out of his or her own accord and independent of any superior authority or organisation. It is okay to have your head buzzing with random questions at this point. After all, it is quite a dare, to claim your own space in the market and put your best skills to test. But, as it goes, it is never a wrong time to learn something new, and creating something of your very own is worth the efforts, even if it was just a random try.

According to gig economy statistics from 2018, 33% freelancers work in creative fields. According to their stats, 21% of all freelancers are in consulting/professional services. 17% are writers, journalists, and content service providers, 15% are in tech/web development and the left 14% of freelancers work in other fields.

In this article, we deal with what are all the different ways, in which you can start freelancing in India. That is, the most popular types of freelancers in India. If you are new to this game and have been bitten by the freelancing bug too, take a look! With flexible work hours and great work, the job sure carries its perks.

Different Types Of Freelancers

The Independent Contractors

One of the broadest categories here, an independent contractor, in literal terms, means an individual who works of his own free will and does not have a specific employer.

As this is the case with all the freelancers, this category encapsulates all the categories mention below. Individual contractors include people working with several different clients, often multiple clients at once, either full time or part-time. The work is often undertaken on a per-project, per day or a contractual basis and the work variety is diverse.

Part-Time Freelancers

Call it one of the smartest or the most baulking types, but part-time freelancing provides an excellent opportunity to the individuals who are looking to explore new work genres or extra income without running the risk of having to quit their day job.

Thus, these people have a steady job, which is their main earning source and a part-time freelance gig on the side, where they get to work independently. Also called the Moonlighting, part-time freelancing is a popular choice among quite many individuals, who want to develop their skills while maintaining a permanent earning source.

Business Owners

Look at this category as a cross between a freelancer and a small-time business owner. The conclusion? An individual who undertakes projects as a freelancer, but has employees. The freelancer pays his or her employees out of his earnings and thus, earns a livelihood.

Business owners often prefer to work in the same niche and are experienced freelancers who know their jobs well and have over time, established themselves in the market (enough to employ other people). These dedicate long hours to their craft and often get projects through networking.

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The Experiential Freelancer

One of the most curious of the types, these individuals are full-time freelancers who love what they do and strive harder and harder to learn and achieve more. They often undertake diverse projects and are constantly pushing their work boundaries by learning new things.

Needless to say, this kind of curiosity demands to remain constantly updated with the latest developments in their work fields and experiential freelancers are masters of it. Of course, there is a reason why, these days, even hot-shot corporations want to hire the services of a freelancer.

Diversified Workers

Not exactly a freelancer but cutting, these individuals depend upon a variety of odd jobs for their income. They often don’t work within a particular sector but undertake a variety of part-time jobs, online freelance work, and short term projects to keep the house running.

Virtual Assistants

A Virtual Assistant is just like an Office Assistant but the difference is that a Virtual Assistant doesn't work at an office or the place of the client instead they work from home or anywhere. The job of a Virtual Assistant includes various tasks such as content writing, replying emails, chat support etc. Think of it as you are working for someone as a personal assistant but from your place.

The advantage of being a Virtual Assistant is that you get long-term projects here. And there are so many jobs available which you can do as a Virtual Assistant and the pay is also decent.

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Freelance Web Developer

The name is self-explanatory here, a freelance web developer or a programmer is someone who builds websites and web applications. If you are a web developer or you know some of the programming languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript then you can start working as a freelancer. The only thing is you have found out project specifically in your niche.

Don't worry! If you don't know how HTML, CSS, JavaScript works. You can easily learn them online. There are so many courses available which you can take to learn the basics and that is enough to enter the freelancing world.

Freelance Bookkeeper or Accountant

Many businesses out there which don't want to handle their bookkeeping part. As a freelance bookkeeper, you will handle their accounting part. If you know about how accounting works or if you have worked somewhere as an accountant then you just have to use those skills to work digitally.

You can also learn these skills easily online. But you have to be expert in bookkeeping because people nowadays looking for professional services. So, if bookkeeping is something that you are passionate about go ahead and start earning.

Graphic Designers

A Graphic Designer is someone who conveys the message of any brand visually. In the field of Graphic Designing, you have to decide your speciality or the niche on which you are going to work. There are so many graphic designing works available such as logo designing, web designing, t-shirt mockup, banner designing and the list goes on.

Once you have decided the niche on which you are going to work or target. Find out the other famous graphic designers and research about their work. If they are doing something different then you also have to do something more unique.

Again if you are not a professional graphic designer then no one is going to hire. Just because as a graphic designer you create an image of the brand and no one wants to create an unprofessional image of a brand. So, before you start looking for projects build your portfolio first. Try to take inspirations from other graphic designers and do something more than them.

Also, don't forget about the pricing, you have to include pricing for each type of work you are going to do as a graphic designer. But don't provide cheap service at the cheapest price. See what others are charging for the same work and if you think that you can also do the same go ahead and charge what you deserve.

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Conclusion

So now you know the different types of freelancers out there, did you figure out which category you belong to? Or if you are a beginner, what method struck out as the best for your skills? Freelancing is a booming sector and the Indian market accommodates no less in recruiters than the freelancers. With its perks and challenges, what do you think of the present freelancing business? Let us know in the comment below.